But he knew plenty of distracting sinkholes too: gossip, the endless call of work, as well as fear, suspicion, lust. Every human being is pulled by these internal and external forces that are...

we don't need to make decisions that force us to continue to work and work and work and drift further from study and contemplation in order to get more money to pay for the things we don't need.

There's no time off. There aren't even weekends. We are always preparing for what life might throw at us-and when it does, we're ready and don't stop until we've handled it.

don't spend your time {the most valuable and least renewable of all your resources} on the things that don't matter.

the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to its worth, for then you won't tire and give up

we shouldn't forget at each moment to ask, is this one of the unnecessary things?

Since the vast majority of our words and actions are unnecessary, corralling them will create an abundance of leisure and tranquility.

When you want to be creative, take a walk. When you need to get some air, take a walk. When you have a phone call to make, take a walk. When you need some exercise, take a long walk. When you have a...

Don't be the agitator, the paranoid, the worrier, or the irrational. Be the calm, not the liability.

instill calm-not by force but by example.

Every event has two handles-one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can't. If your brother does you wrong, don't grab it by his wronging, because this is the handle incapable of lifting...

We should take wandering outdoor walks, so that the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing. -SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND

Today, make sure you take a walk. And in the future, when you get stressed or overwhelmed, take a walk. When you have a tough problem to solve or a decision to make, take a walk. When you want to be...

To the youngster talking nonsense Zeno said, 'The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is so we might listen more and talk less.' -DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES OF EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS, 7.1.23

Succumbing to the self-pity and "woe is me" narrative accomplishes nothing-nothing except sapping you of the energy and motivation you need to do something about your problem.

Even one minute without playing the blame game is progress in the art of living.

I am a great believer in luck. The harder I work, the more of it I seem to have.

today, will you be part of the problem or part of the solution? Will you hear the wisdom of the world or drown it out with more noise?

One does not magically get one's act together-it is a matter of many individual choices. It's a matter of getting up at the right time, making your bed, resisting shortcuts, investing in yourself,...

every rational person can convert any obstacle into the raw material for their own purpose.

Perfectionism rarely begets perfection-only disappointment.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough?

Whether you live in the snake pit of Washington, D.C., work among the materialism of Wall Street, or grew up in a closed-minded small town, you can live well. Plenty of others have.

It's that kind of energy and creativity and above all faith in yourself that you need right now.

The more you say," Robert Greene has written, "the more likely you are to say something foolish.

We're not trying to ace tests or impress teachers. We are reading and studying to live, to be good human beings-always and forever.

Apply yourself to thinking through difficulties

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

In your actions, don't procrastinate. In your conversations, don't confuse. In your thoughts, don't wander. In your soul, don't be passive or aggressive. In your life, don't be all about business....

shouldn't we be just as invested in building ourselves as we would be to any company?